Photo: Ryan James
The village in the city
Parkview and Greenside East, with their spectacular tree-lined streets, parks and heritage homes, are some of the most desired suburbs in Johannesburg.
The Parkview Residents’ Association, bolstered by our residents, actively maintains infrastructure by supporting street cleaning teams, maintenance days, heritage and town planning processes, dedicated car guards on the high street, and improving and maintaining George Hay Park, the village green that is the heart of our suburbs. Our community participates in and supports outreach activities, such as our bi-monthly blood drives, feeding schemes at our churches, and social events such as Movies in the Park, an annual Spring Run, and our much-loved Halloween event. The PRA’s work is funded by residents and local businesses, who pay their annual fees. The PRA also receives a monthly contribution from our security provider, SafeParkview.
The area is popular with families given its excellent public and private schools, and its proximity to Zoo Lake and the neighbouring Johannesburg Zoo. The Tyrone Avenue high street boasts grocery, home industry, framing, stationery, designer and clothing retailers, as well as salons, restaurants, pharmacies and a liquor store. Several medical and healthcare practitioners operate in the area, as well as art, dance and exercise studios. The suburb has a library, clinic, post office and police station.
Parkview and Greenside East have a dedicated, community-run security service, SafeParkview, which provides armed response, guard services, and bicycle and vehicle patrols for the area. We encourage residents to become SafeParkview members as the organisation supports our efforts. The suburbs are well-located for office and shopping nodes, such as Rosebank and Sandton, and it has convenient access to the M1 motorway.
New residents, please click here for more information on living in the area and how to be an active resident.
Photo: Joseph Human
Our history
The suburb Parkview, originally called Park View, was proclaimed in 1906 and sales of stands, to the city’s white middle class, began in 1907 when Johannesburg was just over 20 years old. Today the suburb’s residents are a diverse community of writers, artists, academics, professionals and retirees.
In the early days, homes had coal stoves and with no water-borne sewage, waste was collected in the service lanes at night by men in a horse-drawn wagon. There were initially four shops on Tyrone Avenue, which included a butchery, a dairy and a general store. The first school was Parkview Government School, now Parkview Junior, which opened in 1917. To accommodate the increasing number of children, Parkview Senior School was opened in 1932.
The roads are mostly named after towns in Ireland, while Jan Smuts Avenue was previously called The Old Pretoria, Government Road or Braamfontein Road. Carlow Road was once Clare Road, then Melville-Parkview Road, and later Melpark Road. The Parkview Golf Course was completed in 1916, and George Hay Park, named after a mining pioneer and city councillor, was known as Parkview Square till 1939.
(Sources: A Lovely Spirit Here, Cynthia Kros, 2017; Johannesburg Street Names, Anna H. Smith, 1971; internet research.)
Photo: Ryan James
About the Parkview Residents' Association
The Parkview Residents’ Association (PRA) is run by and for residents of Parkview and Greenside East by volunteers who believe that the future of the area rests on the work we put in now.
The PRA relies on the fees residents pay to fund street cleaning, suburb maintenance, the upkeep of George Hay Park and other green spaces, hosting events, and paying for professional service providers like town planners, lawyers and heritage specialists, when required. The PRA is overseen by a chair and the association’s work is done through committees. Our work is guided by our Constitution. To pay your annual fees or make a donation, click here.
Photo: Tasneem Mayet
Committees
|
Chair
|
Philanie Jooste |
|
Communications Newsletters, communications, PRA website |
Samantha Enslin-Payne |
|
Finance |
Nadine Moses |
|
Heritage Heritage applications to the Joint Plans Committee, and advice and support in terms of architecture and council submissions |
Felicity Bailey |
|
Infrastructure Traffic calming, reporting of infrastructure problems to the city, investigating alternative power and water resources, and assisting the councillor and in resolving service interruptions |
Anton van Dalsen |
|
Outreach Charity drives Tyrone Avenue car guards
Business and relationships liaison (fostering associations with JoburgCAN, security service providers, churches, schools and businesses) |
Vacant Bev Schultz Vacant |
|
Parks and green George Hay Park, communal gardens, trees and street cleaning.
Parties in George Hay Park |
Tim Conradie Zakiyah Dockrat |
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Social Events, bi-monthly blood drives, social media and marketing |
Michelle Dancer |
|
Town planning Town planning, zoning regulations and applications for changes in land use |
Simon MacLennan |
Photo: Dilan Bhaga
Outreach
Car guards
The Tyrone Avenue car guards, clearly identifiable in their uniforms, rely on tips from shoppers and we encourage residents to support them. The PRA manages and supports the car guards through skills development and calls for donations twice a year to boost their earnings.
Displaced people
The PRA is mindful of the high unemployment rate in South Africa and the associated poverty. The focus of the PRA in supporting homeless people is to contribute to organisations that provide skills and resources for displaced people. Residents can also assist displaced people by donating to MES (MES – Changing the heart of the city!) or U-turn Homeless Ministries – overcome homelessness in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Schools, businesses, estate agents and churches
The PRA has a close working relationship with the schools, businesses and churches in Parkview, where we support each others’ endeavours. Local businesses generously support PRA events, charity drives and infrastructure projects and we encourage residents to in turn show their support by shopping on Tyrone Avenue and utilising the array of services on offer. The many schools and churches in the area enhance the community spirit through their annual events and outreach programmes.
We can … with JoburgCAN
The PRA was the first residents’ association to join and contribute to the recently established JoburgCAN, formed and partly sponsored by OUTA. After many successes at holding national government accountable, OUTA is now using its organisational capacity to assist residents and municipalities to work together to make local government more effective. It organises and empowers a network of community associations and businesses to ensure the responsible collection and use of rates and tax revenues, along with good service delivery by the city. JoburgCAN is determined to use the collective frustration, knowledge and experience to work together to hold our city’s employees (and especially management) accountable and make them provide residents with the services they are paying for. Read more about JoburgCAN.
Safety
SafeParkview is a non-profit company whose members are Parkview residents and commercial subscribers. Established in 2009, the company is affiliated to the PRA. It has a board of volunteer directors and a community manager, who are all residents. SafeParkview contracts 24/7 Security, an armed response company specialising in proactive patrolling and guarding, to keep the suburb safe through 24-hour proactive vehicle and bicycle patrols, alarm system monitoring, and access to fire and paramedic services. For more information or to sign up for this please visit the SafeParkview website at https://safeparkview.co.za.
Our supporters
Accounting support - By Numbers
Event sponsor - Chas Everitt
IT support and Microsoft licences - Dial a Nerd
Event sponsor - Fairbridges Wertheim Becker
Event sponsor - Fine & Country
Car guard uniforms - J Bredenkamp Inc
Event sponsor - Jonathan Ball Publishers
Event sponsor - Pam Golding
AGM and Spring Run host - Parkview Golf Club
Branding & Design - Ronel Wasserman
Events safety and security - SafeParkview
George Hay Park maintenance - St Columba's
Landscaping and gardening - The Gardeners
